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The Myths of Innovation summary

Name: The Myths of Innovation
Rating: 4.3 (82 reviews)
Author: Scott Berkun

Scott Berkun

The bestseller on the history of ideas

4.3 (82 ratings)

14 mins

What is The Myths of Innovation about?

The Myths of Innovation (2007) addresses common misconceptions about what it takes to become a successful innovator. Borrowing real-life examples from both recent business history and the arts, Berkun reveals where good ideas really come from.

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The Myths of Innovation
summarized in 6 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 6

What’s in it for me? Debunk the myths that are preventing you from innovating.

Most of us believe that good ideas are the result of some kind of external, divine inspiration. In fact – we say to ourselves – we’re probably better off not thinking too much about innovating because that groundbreaking idea is more likely to strike when we least expect it.

But it’s exactly this kind of misguided thought that leads to frustration and wasted time.

Furthermore, we usually give credit to only one person for an invention. But the notion of a single genius single-handedly coming up with an invention is a myth. Many believe that Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, but you’ll soon find out that the honor should actually be bestowed upon two lesser-known inventors.

These blinks will redefine the way you look at creative processes and help you avoid the pitfalls of innovation, steering you toward the true path to becoming a successful innovator.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why you shouldn’t fall for the story of Isaac Newton and the apple;
that groundbreaking inventions are rarely the work of a single individual; and
how people sometimes fail to see the worth of a great idea at first glance.

Great ideas aren’t born from divine inspiration but from a build-up of smaller thoughts.

Whether visiting an artist’s studio, an inventor’s workshop or a researcher’s lab, people often ask innovators the same question: “Where do your ideas come from?”

A well-known origin story of a great idea is that of Isaac Newton and how he devised a theory of gravity after an apple fell on his head. The implication of this story is that great ideas strike those lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

Unfortunately, this tale is a myth. Epiphanies don’t exist. Great ideas don’t miraculously come to people in a moment of inspiration; they evolve over a lifetime of hard work and personal sacrifice.

The word epiphany contains deeply religious connotations. Originally, it meant that all moments of inspiration came from God. Today, the word is less associated with religion, but the core implication nonetheless remains: when people exclaim that they’ve just had an epiphany, they’re subtly suggesting that they’re not quite sure where the idea came from, and thus couldn’t possibly take full credit for it.

The belief that great ideas exist in a realm beyond our control and come to us in mysterious ways could be a psychological tactic to alleviate guilt and frustration when we’re staring down at a blank sheet of paper, unable to commit any creative idea to it. But such a belief is a distortion of what the creative process actually entails.

Instead of a divine moment of inspiration, most creatives accumulate many small insights over time. Indeed, if you look closely at any great idea, you will see that it’s composed of an infinite number of previous, smaller ideas. For example, it was only after almost four decades of multiple innovations in the realms of networking, electronics and software that Tim Berners-Lee was able to build upon the concept of the internet to create the World Wide Web.

Unlike Newton’s apple, great ideas don’t just fall from trees. To come up with an innovative thought, we need to give it time, which we’ll look at how to do right now.

Relentlessly generate new ideas and give them time to grow into great ones.

Today’s world is all about convenience. Everything nowadays is being sold to us pre-packaged – from meals to holidays, clothes to entertainment. The problem with this convenient consumer culture is that we also expect our new ideas to come conveniently gift-wrapped, which is another myth of innovation.

The belief that good ideas arrive fully formed often stops us from developing them, which forecloses the possibility of those ideas becoming great. When pitching a new idea to, say, a team at work, one of the things innovators often hear is “We’ve already tried that” or “We don’t work like that here.” This is unfortunate as these criticisms nip the possibility of growth in the bud and ignore the fact that new ideas don’t come conveniently ready-made.

Patent laws lead us to believe that great ideas come from one innovator, but really they’re the product of multiple thinkers.

If you were to ask a young child who invented pancakes, they’d most likely answer, “My mom!” Well, the bad habit of assuming that the person we associate with an invention is also its creator doesn’t stop at childhood. How many of us think that Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb? And how many know that it was in fact invented by the lesser-known Humphry Davy and Joseph Swan? Unfortunately, the myth of the lone innovator has robbed these two men of their laurels.

People like Edison get the credit for great inventions because we want our products, our ideas and our heroes to come conveniently pre-packaged, as previously mentioned. Therefore, it’s easier to spread the myth that something great was achieved by a single person, even though the truth is that it usually involves more than one mind.

Curb people’s aversion to new ideas by offering samples.

Creator of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, had his invention dismissed as nothing more than a useless toy by the world’s leading communication company at the time, and George Lucas’s original Star Wars script was rejected by all the major Hollywood studios except one. This brings us to another innovation myth – that people like new ideas.

From the examples above, we can see that people aren’t so receptive to new ideas, even if the ideas are brilliant. People tend to reject new things because they are inherently afraid of change.

Many great ideas were rejected in the past by managers who were biased against innovation.

Can you imagine Stephen Hawking working for a typical boss who demands that he submit daily status reports? Or what about Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton having to get their time cards stamped? How about Mozart, Marie Curie and Leonardo da Vinci taking notes at a company conference?

If you’re struggling to picture the great innovators of the past succeeding within the confines of today’s workplace, how can we expect the modern employee to accomplish any innovative work?

You must consider the broader context before assuming that your idea will succeed.

Fairy tales and stories of heroes usually follow a familiar trajectory: the good guy wins, the bad guy loses and those who follow the right path are rewarded. These stories demonstrate our deeply held beliefs about meritocracy – that the best individual or idea will or should win. However, the belief that “goodness” wins is yet another myth of innovation.

In a business context, the myth that a great idea will always triumph is perhaps best captured in the well-known saying, “If you build it, they will come.” Unfortunately, this phrase has led many entrepreneurs to falsely believe that a good idea will sell itself.

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Best quote from The Myths of Innovation

Picasso needed eight notebooks to explore all his ideas for the Guernica painting.

—Scott Berkun

About the Author

Scott Berkun is an American author and speaker. He previously worked on the development of Internet Explorer, at Microsoft. His work has appeared in the New York Times and the Washington Post, and he has taught creative thinking at the University of Washington.

Who should read The Myths of Innovation?

Managers who want to support innovation in the workplace
Those looking to increase the success of their innovative ideas
Creative people struggling with inspiration

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